Analysis of Uranium Activity in Al-Tuwait Soil and Nuclear Facilities: The Joint Program of Ukrainian and Iraqi Scientists

Period: 2006

Customer: Civilian Research & Development Foundation (CRDF), USA

The results of the joint project provided the Iraqi Radiological Source Regulatory Authority (IRSRA), which is responsible for updating the IAEA standards in Iraq, with an opportunity to re-profile Iraqi scientists and engineers, who used to manufacture weapons of mass destruction. The project also contributed to updating health, scientific, and engineering programs in Iraq.

Within the framework of the project:

• 100 contaminated soil samples from Al-Tuwait facility were extracted and prepared for the analysis;
• the samples were analyzed using alpha –spectroscopy for Uranium (234,235,238) isotopes, gamma-spectrums for Caesium (134,137), and beta-spectrums for Strontium and Ithrium (90);
• radiation contamination scale was assessed and the related public health risk was determined;
• geographical scale of the problem was determined and further migration of radionuclides in the inhabited areas was forecasted;
• cartography of uranium activity in the soil of Al -Tuwait site and adjacent areas was developed.

Director of International Radioecology Laboratory
Mykhailo D. Bondarkov
Tel.: +38 (04579) 2 44 88
Fax:+38 (04579) 6 15 62
e-mail: bondarkov@chornobyl.net